Asia stocks at 1-mth high; euro reboundsHONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose to a one-month high, led by a rally in the technology sector, while the euro rebounded in thin trade, squeezed higher by dealers forced to close bets against the currency.
"We're seeing pretty active short-covering on a sense that recent risk avoidance moves were exaggerated, leaving markets oversold," said Takashi Ushio, head of the investment strategy division at Marusan Securities in Tokyo.

China: Reaches basic agreement with Taiwan on tariff reductions
China and Taiwan said they reached a basic agreement on tariff reductions in a third round of talks to boost economic and trade relations. An agreement would lower tariffs on more than 200 items exported from China to Taiwan including car parts, petrochemicals and machinery. (Bloomberg)

China: Economic data challenges its yuan stance
China’s gain in retail sales, consumer prices and industrial production countered the government’s assessment that the recovery isn’t “solid” and put more pressure on policy makers to let the yuan rise. Inflation accelerated to an annual 3.1% pace in May, surpassing officials’ target for the full year, while retail sales gains quickened to 18.7% and industrial production jumped 16.5%.(Bloomberg)

China: May foreign investment rises for 10th month
Foreign direct investment in China rose for a 10th month in May, adding to a evidence that the nation is weathering the European debt crisis. Investment jumped 27.5% to USD8.1bn in May, more than the 23.2% median forecast of 4 economists surveyed earlier. (Bloomberg)

India: Factory output grows 17.6%, more than forecast
India’s industrial production grew 17.6% in April, strengthening the case for an interest rate increase even as Europe’s debt woes threaten the global economy. Output at factories, utilities and mines rose after gaining a revised 13.9% in March from a year earlier. (Bloomberg)

US: Inventories rose 0.4% in April as sales climbed 0.6%
Inventories in the US rose 0.4% in April, less than the gain in sales, putting companies in a better position to weather a slowdown in demand last month. The increase in the value of stockpiles was smaller than the median forecast of economists and followed a 0.7% advance in the prior month. Sales climbed 0.6%. (Bloomberg)

US: Geithner says China’s yuan peg hurts global recovery
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said China’s exchange rate policy prevents a balanced global recovery and urged a stronger yuan to help contain inflation in the world’s third largest economy. China’s commerce ministry said hours later that the yuan’s peg to the dollar remains unchanged and the country’s policy was made clear to the US in talks last month. (Bloomberg)

June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Genting Malaysia Bhd., the casino owner that parlayed a single hilltop site near Kuala Lumpur into gambling resorts in Singapore, the Philippines and the U.K., is now looking for investments in the U.S. “Genting Malaysia is aggressively searching for opportunities to invest in the U.S. casino gaming market,” Justin Leong, head of strategic investments and corporate affairs at group parent Genting Bhd., said in an interview in New York. “Our strategy is building a U.S. presence.”

RM3.2bn Petronas jobs up for grabs
Dayang Enterprise Holdings and Petra Energy Bhd are seen as the frontrunners for Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) ongoing tender for the maintenance of its offshore platform across Malaysia. It is learnt that Petronas has solicited bids for the maintenance of its local offshore platforms on a five-year term. The contract value for the Sabah and Sarawak portion is estimated at RM800m. (Financial Daily)

Tobacco firms yet to receive ‘black and white’ from ministry
Tobacco companies have yet to receive the official notification from the health ministry pertaining to the ban on the sale of small cigarette packs from June 1 despite the minister saying last Thursday that the directive had been sent out. The Health Minister had also said enforcement had not started as there had been some confusion over the status of the ban but said that it would be “soon” though no timeframe was given. The tobacco players will be given some time to clear the stocks already in the market. (Financial Daily)

Boustead in RM534m takeover of Pharmaniaga
Boustead Holdings Bhd has proposed to buy 86.81% of the issued and paid-up share capital of drug maker Pharmaniaga, owned by UEM Group for RM534m cash. The proposed deal would be funded via internally generated funds, namely the RM363mil from the recent sale of its insurance unit BH Insurance (M) and bank borrowings, the company said. Boustead deputy chairman/group managing director Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said the acquisition, which works out to RM5.75 per share, was expected to pave the way for Boustead, largely involved in property and plantation now, to move into the pharmaceutical business in the Asean region “in a serious manner”. At RM5.75 per share, the offer represents a 13% premium over Pharmaniaga’s last traded price of RM5.10. (StarBiz)

RM3bn boost for Naza TTDI's Platinum Park Naza
TTDI Sdn Bhd's Platinum Park project in Kuala Lumpur will see a new wave of development as the property developer launches lifestyle properties worth about RM3bn next year and in 2013. The 3.68-hectare Platinum Park is a high-end integrated residential and commercial development in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) area, worth RM4bn. Group managing director SM Faliq SM Nasimuddin said Naza TTDI will introduce its first residential property - a luxury serviced apartment, by early next year. It will next launch a high-end condominium towards the end of 2011 or by early 2012. He said there will be more than 200 units of serviced apartments, with sizes ranging from 500 sq ft to 1,100 sq ft offered to retail investors. The condominium tower will have more than 100 units, ranging from 2,000 sq ft to 3,500 sq ft. (BT)

Wah Seong eyes jobs in Europe, Golden Triangle
Wah Seong Corp Bhd plans to establish an oil and gas pipe-coating plant in Europe or in the Golden Triangle (Brazil, Mexico, and North Africa) region in the next one to two years. Group deputy managing director Giancarlo Maccagno said after the company AGM that the project would support the group’s interests in these areas. “We are in the process of bidding for a couple of projects in Europe and the Golden Triangle,” he said. Over the next five years, the oil and gas industry planned to spend about USD170bn for deepsea exploration and production, of which 75% would be for the Golden Triangle, said Maccagno. (StarBiz)

Two Penang HDD parts makers re-investing this year
Two Penang-based hard-disk drive (HDD) component makers, Eng Teknologi Holdings Bhd and Dufu Technology Corp Bhd, are re-investing this year. Their move comes as Seagate and Western Digital, the two major producers of HDD products, are allocating USD750m each for capital expenditure (capex) this year. The amount represents an increase of 15.4% and 36.4% respectively for the two companies. According to a recent broker report, both Seagate and Western Digital are increasing capex to support demand, “as inventory levels at their original equipment and distribution customers remained at nearly all-time lows across all geographic regions and product offerings.” The global demand for HDD products is also expected to hit over 671m units this year compared with over 557m in 2009. Eng Teknologi is allocating about RM100m to expand its operations in Malaysia, Thailand, and China this year and next. Dufu Technology Corp Bhd, on the other hand, is pumping RM12m to increase production of HDD components, such as clamps and spacers, at its plant in Bayan Lepas Industrial Estate. (StarBiz)

Kimlun to focus on Iskandar, S’pore construction projects
Listing bound-Kimlun Corp Bhd is looking to build on its order book of RM600m by tendering for construction projects in Iskandar Malaysia and Singapore. The Johor-Bahru based company is aiming to secure some contracts from the special development zone after Iskandar Investment Bhd said it will be offering contracts worth RM1bn for retail outlets, hotels and office space by the end of this year. (Malaysian Reserve)

World stocks, euro rise for 4th day
LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - World equities extended their relief rally into a fourth day on Friday on optimism over global economic growth, while the euro rose and was on track to post its biggest weekly gain this year.
"The flight to safety that we have seen out of euro and out of many euro bonds into gilts and into U.S. Treasuries suggests to me there is not a lot of value in bonds," said Neil Dwane, chief investment officer at Allianz's RCM.

June 14 (Bloomberg) -- European banks at risk of writedowns from the sovereign debt crisis face a funding squeeze that may depress earnings, curb lending and imperil economic recovery in the region. Investors are shunning bank securities on concern Greek, Portuguese and Spanish bonds held by the lenders will plunge in value. Bank bond sales slowed in May to the lowest since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s failure in 2008 as the extra yield buyers demand to hold the securities over government debt soared to the highest this year. Firms are wary of lending to each other, depositing record funds with the European Central Bank.

Soyoil recovered after slipping in earlier trading on spillover pressure from steep losses in crude oil, a trader says. The USDA announced a sale of 40,000 tons of U.S. soyoil to China, but it was seen as "kind of a confirmation, not any real new news," a broker says. CBOT July soyoil closed up 0.15 cent at 36.90 cents per pound, and CBOT July soymeal climbed $7.40 to $289.70 per short ton.(Source: CME)

Technicals, economy concerns drag palm oil to 7-mth lows
KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures on Friday fell to more than seven-month lows as investors took profit due to palm oil's premium to rival soyoil in cash markets and concerns over Europe's debt crisis.
"There was some long liquidation because the technical picture of palm oil looks weak. It has been at a premium over soyoil," a trader in Kuala Lumpur said.

India's May vegoil imports seen down 26 pct y/y
NEW DELHI, June 11 (Reuters) - India's vegetable oil imports in May probably fell 26 percent from a year ago on lower domestic prices and a drop in demand, as customers moved away from fried foods to beat the sweltering heat of the summer months, a Reuters survey showed.
Traders said high temperatures, three to five degrees above normal, in May slowed consumption demand. Use of vegetable oil for cooking purposes usually wanes in summer.

Argentina soy crop seen at record 55 mln T
BUENOS AIRES, June 10 (Reuters) - Argentina's 2009/10 soy output will reach a record 55.0 million tonnes due to favorable weather conditions, Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday, raising its forecast from 54.8 million tonnes.
Argentina is the No. 3 global exporter of soybeans and the top supplier of soymeal and soyoil, but a drought brought output down to 32 million tonnes last season.

Argentina soy crop seen at 55 mln T-grains exchange
BUENOS AIRES, June 10 (Reuters) - Argentina's 2009/10 soy output is estimated at 55.0 million tonnes, above the previous estimate of 54.8 million tonnes, Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday.
The exchange held its estimate for the corn crop at 22.2 million tonnes and also maintained its outlook for 2010/11 wheat plantings at 4.2 million hectares (10.4 million acres).

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